James Gambier

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Gambier was an important officer in the British Royal Navy. It was once thought that this portrait, with its fluid handling of paint and its dramatic landscape, was painted in London. However, Copley's obscured signature and inscription at lower right securely date the painting to 1773 and...

Gambier was an important officer in the British Royal Navy. It was once thought that this portrait, with its fluid handling of paint and its dramatic landscape, was painted in London. However, Copley's obscured signature and inscription at lower right securely date the painting to 1773 and identify the site as Boston. The painting thus provides a stylistic link between the polished, hard-edged works Copley made in America and the softer style he adopted in his London years.